Drunk driving and guns.

[Deep13]

21. I have to agree that this is a complex problem.

Large scale civilian gun ownership is both a cause of violence and a symptom of it. We are a society that has come to think of violence rather than discourse as a solution to many problems. That's why there are so many "gun nuts" who are stocking up on "survival" gear and waiting for "SHTF" (shit hits the fan, meaning a collapse of civil society). They've given up on society even though we are not actually facing any existential threats (except global warming).

Cultures by definition are self reproducing. In the USA, violent culture is expressed by things like guns, police violence, aggressive foreign policy, callousness in domestic policy, capital punishment, tolerance for poverty even among children, or preferred entertainment forms and others. The attitudes that promote these things also cause people to accept them as normal. The national narrative claims that violence won independence, ended slavery, won the west, defeated fascism and communism.

As Michael Moore noted, Canadians have a lot of guns, but very little violent crime. (They do have strict gun control.) For the most part, Canadians just are not violence people. Similarly, when I was in Jordan last summer, I never felt like I needed some way to protect myself. Civilian firearms are illegal in Jordan. The people do not want or need them in large part because Jordanians just are not violent people. As a tallish, fat, white man, I stuck out like a sore thumb, but there was never even the suggestion of hostility.